Champions Online Article Round-up

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Written by BuckGB on August 30th, 2009

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First I want to talk to you about Crisis Zones which introduce players to a new area. Sure, you can have a bunch of NPCs standing around talking about how Monster Island is full of dangerous creatures, but it's a lot more fun to drop you in the middle of a pack of hungry, genetically-altered super-raptors. I could give you loads of contact dialogue and mission text to give you a sense of the supervillain bosses lurking in their lairs... but you'll appreciate them better once you've defeated them and seen them vowing revenge on you. When you run into them again, you know they'll be angry (hint: don't expect them to go down as easily the second time around).

As I look back, I can remember three very critical points in Champions. First, and perhaps most obvious, is when Cryptic chose to do Champions. Our then current project had just been canceled by its publisher and we were now trying to think of what to do next. We had 120ish employees that needed a new direction. Bruce Rogers, our CTO, Michael Lewis, our then CEO and I wrote down ideas on a white board. We asked ourselves, what sort of game could we execute? What did we have a passion for? It seemed obvious that we were a company with a lot of experience with super hero games, so why not that? We debated whether to do a new IP or try to go the licensed rout. We eventually decided to purchase the Champions IP. Why? Because Champions was to RPG's what Marvel and DC were to comics. It's storylines and rule system had been the dominant pen and paper RPG for decades.

(Microsoft's a big company, and they have to work out all the various issues related to MMOs,) said Emmert.

(It just takes time for the big beast known as Microsoft to get moving. I really have no explanation other than that, because it's as baffling to developers as it is to everyone else.)

Cryptic has a 360 version of Champions Online which is (ready to go,) according to the developer, but the chances of the console game releasing anywhere near its imminent PC counterpart sound distant.

(This year? I don't know,) Emmert said of the 360 release.

(Right now we're just talking with Microsoft. Right now the ball is firmly in their court. We're ready to go, but until we get the go ahead from Microsoft, right now we're sort of waiting.)

Considering an MMO is all about 'becoming' someone else, you should be able to adjust everything possible, and at last a game like Champions Online has achieved this. There's also a randomise button if you're not so fussed about giving your character the personal touch, and this button creates so many fantastic creations that it is good to see. Besides the look of your character, there is also the array of frameworks on offer. These frameworks are Champions Online's equivalent of the class system seen in other MMOs. There are 18 frameworks to choose from as well as a custom framework meaning you can adapt things to however you want them to be. The frameworks determine the type of weaponry you can inflict upon your foes and general statistics, as well as certain skills exclusive to the framework such as the ability to inflict damage upon numerous targets at the same time. The custom framework gives you ultimate control over things by enabling you to choose what powers you want as well as an 'innate' ability. It gives you the most flexibility certainly but I found it was initially simpler to choose one of the pre-built frameworks. At least until I'd got to grips with exactly how the frameworks affected my development over time. It was refreshing to see such an unpatronising attitude towards frameworks/classes and certainly has a lot of potential to ensure that all players can play the exact type of character that they have always wanted to, whilst avoiding being pigeonholed into one predictable class such as the tank/healer type system of other MMOs.

Frameworks are a good example of lowering the barrier for entry I think. Otherwise, I love the overall flexibility of the system is pretty awesome for the reasons William already stated. Being able to have an idea for a character and shape that as you advance is a huge leap forward from selecting a pre-determined path within your first 5 minutes of a game you may end up playing for months or years.

The flow of combat is also inverted in comparison to most MMOGs on the market. Instead of having X amount of endurance (mana) to spend on your abilities, you only regenerate a portion of your maximum, and this is known as your endurance equilibrium. The rest of your endurance must be built up by use of an endurance builder attack. Every character has one endurance builder attack, which goes into the first slot on your hotbar. This attack can be fired manually or can be toggled on as a pseudo-auto attack. The flow of combat involves building energy with this attack (or through other means) and then spending the endurance you've built up on more powerful attacks. Blocking ties into endurance building as well, as blocking attacks grants you certain amounts of endurance based on the amount of damage blocked.

One of the most interesting facets of Champions Online is the way characters handle their endurance mana in a more traditional RPG setting. Each character starts with two attack powers. As their career progresses they will earn more. The attack skills fall into two categories. The first are (build up) powers. These powers are always available. The have minimal effect but they generate endurance every time they trigger. The second are what I call (finishing moves.) These attacks drain endurance and require a set amount to even activate. While build up powers typically do little damage, finishing moves do significant damage or have a significant effect. Players also have access to generic powers that can be activated for a price. Powers that let players fly, run at super speeds, or have other beneficial effects.

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